Entertainment

There's no denying it, Los Angeles is the heart of the television and movie entertainment business.  It's everywhere you go.

Just a few blocks from me is one end of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  It may not be the most glamorous thing, but I've never lived in an area where the names of hundreds of entertainment stars were permanently emblazoned for miles in the sidewalk and tourists from around the world walk around with their cameras pointed toward the ground.

A few more blocks from me is the famed Capitol Records building, with its iconic (though apparently unintentional) shape of a stack of records.  Then there's the nearby Palladium, which in just the month I've been here has hosted the likes of the Scissor Sisters, The xx, and Belle & Sebastian, and is sold out this weekend for two nights featuring world-reknowned DJ Kaskade.  The other day, I stepped out of the Hollywood & Vine LA Metro station and could see the top of the Capitol Records building as I strolled out across the Walk of Fame.

Within a half-mile of my place there are at least three television studios of which I'm aware, including Sunset Bronson, Sunset Gower, and Nickelodeon.  Sounds glamorous right?  Except that television studios are basically giant walls facing the street, as shown in this lovely street-view of Sunset Gower studios from Gower.  Still, in just the immediate vicinity, a number of television programs are taped for national broadcast.

Going to a movie theater in Los Angeles is more of an experience than any theater I've gone to elsewhere, and why wouldn't it be?  At the nearby ArcLight Cinemas, an usher announces to the assembled audience the name of the movie and the title stars before the theater dims for the previews.  It's a small touch, to be sure, but in addition to the super-large, comfy seats which are assigned in advance, and the wide-open space outside the theaters, it all signals that movies are really important here.  Just a short jog up the road from ArcLight is the major intersection of Hollywood and Highland where the importance of the movie industry becomes all the more obvious, where the new Kodak Theatre is the regular home of the Academy Awards and the finale of American Idol.

Everywhere I turn, there's the possibility of running into some kind of celeb.  As I've mentioned here before, I saw Matthew Morrison (of Glee fame) the other day at my gym (and again today).  Last week at a small book-signing party, I met and had a fun conversation with Ashley Williams, who was super sweet.  At a premiere party last week for the new Logo show, "The Arrangement," I saw Santino Rice, who was on the second season of "Project Runway," and is now one-half of the title duo on the new Lifetime show, "On the Road with Austin and Santino." And the other day I had the pleasure of meeting actress Nancy Stephens and her husband, director Rick Rosenthal, at a gathering they hosted at their lovely home.

On Friday night, my boyfriend took me to see "Leap of Faith," featuring the inimitable Brooke Shields.  And last night, we went to a reading of Terrence McNally's "Some Men," which had a laundry list of incredible actors on tap, including Alan Cumming, John Glover, Matt Gould, David Alan Grier, Luke MacFarlane, Justin Kirk, Michael McKean, Jason Ritter, Josh Stamberg, and none other than Lily Tomlin.  For me, it was pretty incredible going to a one-night-only reading of a play on a random Monday night and seeing that kind of cast come together for a cause (it was a fundraiser for the Courage Campaign's latest effort, "Testimony").

From the built community, to the people on the street, to events happening any night of the week, you can not only not escape the entertainment industry here in Los Angeles, you'd probably be foolish to want to do so.  It's everywhere, and it's pretty amazing to be up close and personal with it, even in just the short time that I've been here so far.

Having grown up in a household where we sang all the time, and having studied singing, acting, and dancing, I am really interested in what I am encountering.  And I promise to soon have another blog post up about the personal experience I am having in my new home, as it relates to my background in entertainment and my interest in doing more with it now that I am in the industry's proverbial backyard.